Book Review: Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb

Assassin’s Quest (Farseer Trilogy #3) by Robin Hobb
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Date Published: March 1997
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Blurb (from Goodreads): King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz—or so his enemies and friends believe. But with the help of his allies and his beast magic, he emerges from the grave, deeply scarred in body and soul. The kingdom also teeters toward ruin: Regal has plundered and abandoned the capital, while the rightful heir, Prince Verity, is lost to his mad quest—perhaps to death. Only Verity’s return—or the heir his princess carries—can save the Six Duchies.

But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him—currents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was.

Why I read it: 

I read Assassin’s Apprentice, and thought it was pretty good. Royal Assassin was better, easily a 5 star read. Of course I was going to finish this trilogy off!

My thoughts:

I’m not quite sure how to write this review. Saying this was a 5 star read doesn’t do this book justice. Because while I have read some great 5 star reads this year, I didn’t enjoy them half as much as this one. If Robin Hobb consistently finishes trilogies like this (and I plan to find out very, very soon!) then she will be joining the ranks of Jacqueline Carey and Guy Gavriel Kay as my all-time favourite authors.

And before I gush about it some more, a warning: there's a few MAJOR spoilers for book two below. Read on at your own risk!

The end of Royal Assassin, book two in the Farseer Trilogy, saw Fitz “die” at Regal’s hand. He only survived because he used the Wit to escape into the mind of his wolf. However, this endurance came at a cost. The wider world (including most of his friends and allies) consider him long gone. And on a more personal level, Fitz’s time spent living as a wolf stripped him of his humanity; it’s unclear if he will ever fully regain his human side. In short, Fitz is a broken and changed man: barred from his home at Buckkeep and with little left to live for (or lose!). Which sucks for him (and I felt for Fitz, I really did!) but is a very dramatic place to begin a novel.

And it only gets better from there.

The plot builds slowly. It begins with Fitz’s convalescence under Burrich’s hand. Later, it follows Fitz inland as he quests for revenge. Regal stole his life and Verity’s kingdom; Fitz intends to make him pay. The result is a series of increasingly epic (mis)adventures through Farrow and the Mountain Kingdoms. There are even dragons!

There’s also a LOT more magic in this book, which made me very happy. In my review of Assassin’s Apprentice, I said the Wit bored me because it seemed like generic animal magic. But I take it all back! The Wit is awesome. It’s integral to the plot, and to Fitz, with strengths and flaws that are incredibly interesting. Fitz even meets others of the “Old Blood” during his journey, and learns just how little he knows about Witted folk and what they can do. It was great to finally get a glimpse of how the Wit was used outside the confined world of Buckkeep proper.

We also see more of the Skill and its capabilities. Fitz continues to show promise with the Skill, and his limited training continues to trip him up. Regal’s coterie, led by Will, is an increasing threat. However, the Skill-related plotlines are advanced mainly by a couple of new characters and various strange situations that Fitz encounters. It’s brilliant - I love this kind of fiddly, vicious mind magic. It’s so much fun to read about!!

There’s also some great character stuff in this book. Fitz is the core of the novel (and my heart broke for him. Repeatedly. Poor guy.) but the secondary characters remain brilliantly written. I have a soft spot in my heart for Verity, but I also enjoyed the two new female characters introduced. Kettle the crotchety old woman was excellently written, and Starling the bard had surprising depth.

We also learn a lot more about the Fool. He played a fairly minor role in the first two books, but really comes into his own here. Suddenly I understand why everyone raves about how awesome Fitz & the Fool are together! They become much closer in this novel, and I really appreciated the glimpse of love (and possibly romance?) shared between them. I also loved the (very unexpected!) discussion on gender the Fool comes out with in this book. I’ve always imagined him as your average straight and cis-male, because nobody has ever commented otherwise. But knowing his personal views of gender, and the fact that he was androgynous-enough that another character mistook him as a female, means I have to revise my internal image of who this person is. And that makes me very happy! I like it when books screw with your expectations, and obviously I’m a fan of queer-ish content in my fantasy.

The only thing I didn’t like was Fitz’s relationship with Molly, his lover and childhood friend from the previous two books. Her appearances in this book are brief. Fitz dreams of her occasionally, and remains deeply in love. But their relationship is deeply unequal. Molly doesn’t even know that Fitz is alive, and mainly exists to be threatened by Regal and cause Fitz some noble man-pain. However, I liked the way her plotline was concluded, so this criticism is given half-heartedly at best.

Also? You can look forward to an ending that is both satisfyingly epic and more than a bit melancholy. (I even cried a little.)

Seriously, I can’t recommend this book enough! Some of the best epic fantasy I’ve read in years. 

Book Reivew: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Title: Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive #2)
Author: Brandon Sanderson 
Genre: Epic Fantasy 
Publisher: Tor Books (US), Gollancz (UK)
Date Published: March 2014
Rating: 3 of 5 stars 

Blurb (from Goodreads):
In the first volume, we were introduced to the remarkable world of Roshar, a world both alien and magical, where gigantic hurricane-like storms scour the surface every few days and life has adapted accordingly. Roshar is shared by humans and the enigmatic, humanoid Parshendi, with whom they are at war. Among those caught up in the conflict are Highprince Dalinar Kholin, who leads the human armies; his neice Jasnah, a renowned scholar; her student Shallan, a brilliant but troubled young woman; and Kaladin, a military slave who, by the book’s end, was beginning to become the first magically endowed Knight Radiant in centuries.

In Words of Radiance their intertwined stories will continue and, as Sanderson fans have come to expect, develop in unexpected, wonderfully surprising directions. The war with the Parshendi will move into a new, dangerous phase, as Dalinar leads the human armies deep into the heart of the Shattered Plains in a bold attempt to finally end it. Shallan will come along, hoping to find the legendary, perhaps mythical, city of Urithuru, which Jasnah believes holds a secret vital to mankind’s survival on Roshar. The Parshendi take a dangerous step to strengthen themselves for the human challenge, risking the return of the fearsome Voidbringers of old. To deal with it all, Kaladin must learn how to fulfill his new role, while mastering the powers of a Windrunner.


Why I read it: I’m a big fan of Sanderson’s work, so I was always going to get around to his new book eventually. But I ended up finishing it sooner rather than later because my brother also just finished reading this one, and I wanted to discuss it with him.

My review:

I should start this review by admitting my (not-very-guilty and not-very-secret) preference of stand-alone novels to long series. This is something that definitely impacted my enjoyment of this book, for while the second book of the Stormlight Archive has a strong plot, there’s also a lot of setup – manoeuvring characters into situations that don’t seem to matter now, but presumably will in later instalments.

The Way of Kings featured Kaladin as its central protagonist, and I was looking forward to his chapters most. Here, Words of Radiance doesn’t disappoint. The former bridgeman gets some nice growth in this novel, while remaining the wilful character I loved from book one. His dislike of lighteyes combined with his new-found proximity to them was especially fun to read.

However, it is Shallen – a fairly minor character from the first book – who takes centre-stage in this novel. She comes into her own while travelling across the Shattered Plains; once there, she navigates lighteyed politics and her proposed betrothal with entertaining competence and wit. Watching her get her flirt on was great (although the shippy scenes made me yearn for some queer romance. Given Sanderson’s views on homosexuality, this seems unlikely). 

Also, the scene where Kaladin and Shallen first meet is a gem. I won’t spoil it for you, but it was hilarious.

There are other things that I liked about this book - there are some unexpected twists and epic fights, all described in Sanderson’s workmanlike prose. But I was pretty disappointed with the magic system. Simply put, I don’t really understand it. The role of spren remains unclear, as do the many uses of stormlight. Don’t even get me started on fabrials and soulcasting! I don’t think Sanderson is making it up as he goes along; I'd be surprised if he didn't have it all mapped out. I just wish we could find out now, and not several books down the line.

All in all – a good book, not a great one. I’ll read the next, but I won’t go crazy waiting for it.


The Cover: Gotta admit that I'm not a fan of either cover. The British one is boring! Oversized sun, generic warrior... yawn. The US one is better, simply for the textures (although I'm not too keen on the old-fashioned style). But my main problem is that Words of Radiance is Shallen's book - would it be so hard to feature her on the cover?

Book Review: Feast of Souls by Celia Friedman

Name: Feast of Souls

Author: Celia Friedman

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Notes: Published in 2007 by Orbit in the UK and Daw Books in the USA. I bought the British paperback edition.

In the High Kingdom of Danton Aurelius, magisters from across the known world are gathering for an unusual meeting. The King’s son is dying of an apparently incurable wasting disease, and he has charged them with providing an explanation and a cure.

There is a mystery here, but not the one the High King thinks. The magisters know the cause of the prince’s illness but they dare not reveal it for fear that it will expose the secret at the heart of their order. The mystery is not what is responsible, but who…

 

Why I read it:

I bought this on a whim, really. I’d never heard of Celia Friedman, but her book had a nice blurb from Tad Williams (whose books I like) and the prologue seemed interesting.

My Review:

Imagine a world where there are two types of magic users. The first are witches. Male and female both, witches use their own life source – their soul fire – to cast spells. Small sorceries cost witches mere minutes of their lifetime, while larger undertakings might cost days or even years. Only the Magisters can use magic freely. An immortal order of mages, by tradition male-only, they fuel their sorcery by siphoning the soulfire of others.

It’s a great premise, right? I actually think it’s one of the best things about this book. I loved the idea of vampiric mages. Drawn to novelty, incredibly learned, and dabbling in politics to pass the years, they’re compelling figures. Indeed, several of the main characters are Magisters – but ­­Friedman never lets us forget the callous choice they make every day: to kill others so they can live. The Magisters also stand out as the most original part of a book populated with fairly typical fantasy archetypes; of course there’s nothing wrong with noble princes, insane kings, dashing magicians and tomboy heroines, but I’ve seen them all before.

The most ‘dark’ thing about this book is the setting. Sexism permeates everything. At one stage a female character is raped, and even sympathetic characters use unpleasant gendered language. (“Forgive me, my fierce little whore.” Ummmmm, what?!) It almost made me stop reading, although in hindsight I’m glad I didn’t. There are also hints of homophobia – although no outed queers – and it’s obvious that peasants suffer under the magical feudal system. It’s a depressing backdrop for a story, although Friedman puts it to good use. At least not all the characters were white. 

Still, there were a lot of positives about this book. Kamala, an ex-prostitute and survivor to the core, is a brilliant protagonist.  I found myself rolling my eyes a bit at some of her sections – because of course she hates dresses and feels the urge to monologue about it – but on the whole her quest to become the world’s first female Magister was a compelling one, especially given what a dubious moral choice it is. There is also a looming battle against the “Souleaters”: vicious dragon-like creatures reemerging out of legend and leaving destruction in their wake, creatures that even the Magisters are ill-equipped to deal with. I’m expecting big things from Book 3. 

Bascially? This was a great novel. I can’t wait to finish the trilogy.

Cover Commentary:

I don’t mind the British cover. Yes, it’s slightly boring. But the colours go well together and the castle is nicely drawn, although I’ve no idea why they the publishers decided to overlay the building with elven-esque writing. It’s certainly a damn sight better than the American cover, which for some reason has dragonfly wings framing an underdressed and sexualized Kamala. It’s a horrible portrayal of a character that 1) is repeatedly described as unfeminine and masquerades as a boy for most of the novel, and 2) is a former prostitute who loathes her former life.